A closer look at the Global Witness video

by Borneo Post Staff Correspondent.
Posted on April 7, 2013, Sunday

THE video has obviously been prepared with the intention of attacking Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud. The video was filmed surreptitiously by luring participants to hotel rooms under the pretext of doing business deals but with the real intention of recording the discussions and trying to link Taib to corrupt practices.

The video was filmed by a foreign body which has made clear its intent to oppose Taib continuing as the Chief Minister of Sarawak.

The purpose of the video is clearly political as it was filmed in April 2012 but was released to coincide with the impending Malaysian General Election, some one year later.

As decent people, let us look at the contents of the video in proper perspective and with objectivity rather than accept blindly or unconditionally the inference the video wishes viewers to draw. From the outset of the video, the following facts can be derived:

(1) That the video is a setup. The “business discussions” were recorded by concealing and lying about the interviewer’s identity. The interviewer is unknown but from the way he spoke and asked questions, he was most likely a foreigner of European origin with journalistic capability to conduct interviews and elicit information.

   

PBB Youth welcomes more land for Sg Asap folk

Posted on March 30, 2013, Saturday

KUCHING: The government’s proposal to enable folk of Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme to have new land outside the area has the full support from PBB Belaga Youth wing.

Its chairman Henry Kilah Talek said the proposal, if it materialised, was the best solution to meet the villagers’ request for more land to add to the three-acre plot originally given to each of the 15,000 re-settlers due to the construction of Bakun Dam.

“The land shall be cultivated by an oil palm company and the settlers can benefit from the venture by having shares in the company. It should be the way because there is not much land left in Sg Asap.

“At least, by doing this, it will benefit the participants economically. Such model was also mentioned by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud during a dialogue session at Mega Hotel in Miri on Mar 8,” said Kilah yesterday.

He said the people of Sg Asap welcomed the idea for more land because the three acres of land per family originally given to them was insufficient as their families had grown and they also had to look for fertile land elsewhere.

Pemuda PBB Belaga teguh dibelakang Ketua Menteri

Kenyataan Akhbar Pemuda PBB Belaga 27hb Mac 2013

(merujuk kepada Kenyataan Naib Ketua Pemuda PBB Sarawak Pandi Suhaili 21hb Mac 2013)

Henry Kilah Talek

Ketaksuban NGO-NGO Barat terhadap Ketua Menteri Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud dan negeri Sarawak amat menjengkelkan kerana ketaksuban itu dipenuhi dengan kekotoran jiwa dan pemikiran yang menjijikkan.

NGO-NGO Barat ini, seperti pihak pembangkang, sentiasa berusaha untuk mengaibkan Ketua Menteri agar masyarakat Sarawak, khasnya, dan dunia, amnya, percaya dengan tuduhan-tuduhan yang tidak berasas!

Mereka memandang rendah mentali rakyat Sarawak seolah-olah rakyat negeri ini mampu untuk ditipu dengan penipuan mereka.

Pemuda PBB Belaga amat memandang serius usaha penipuan ini, dan atas sebab itu menyokong penuh kenyataan Naib Ketua Pemuda PBB Saudara Pandi Suhaili yang menyatakan sokongan barisan Pemuda PBB negeri Sarawak kepada Ketua Menteri.

Kami turut merasa lega dengan kesediaan Kerajaan Negeri Sarawak untuk menfailkan saman terhadap pihak yang bertanggungjawab dalam isu Global Witness.

Kami berharap pihak yang bertanggungjawap tersebut akan dikenakan hukuman yang berat kerana berniat jahat untuk membusukkan nama baik Ketua Menteri bagi tujuan membantu pembangkang meraih sokongan rakyat!

Akhir sekali, Pemuda PBB Belaga akan sentiasa memberi sokongan padu yang tidak berbelah bahagi kepada Ketua Menteri.

Pemuda PBB Ba' Kelalan kecam tindakan NGO asing

Taib: State govt mulls suing Global Witness

by Geryl Ogilvy Ruekeith, reporters@theborneopost.com.

Posted on March 24, 2013, Sunday

Gathering of information related to claims made by the London-based NGO ongoing

KUCHING: The state government may take legal action against Global Witness with regards to the recently published ‘corruption’ video linking Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The chief minister said yesterday that the government was still accumulating information on the claims made by the London-based human rights NGO.

“I am still trying to find out what’s going on. I don’t know what level of investigation and actions these claims merit. It is quite obvious that they are not really fighting for what their actual causes are.

“They (Global Witness) are just supporting the Opposition considering that the 13th general election is very near. Nobody can deny this,” he told reporters when met after officiating at the opening of the over RM1 million Kampung Lintang multipurpose hall near here.

The video clip recorded by a hidden camera shows two women, who claimed to be the cousins of Taib, discussing the sale of 5,000 hectares of plantation land owned by their company. The women said they were daughters of Taib’s predecessor Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub, who is Taib’s uncle.

The clear recording also showed negotiations between the undercover `investor’ and two local lawyers, one representing a prominent businessman for another land deal.

Taib reiterated his earlier assertion that the allegations were aimed at tarnishing his reputation.

Pemuda PBB berdiri teguh belakang Ketua Menteri

Klik imej untuk besarkan

Taib: Don't trust anyone who claim they act as agent for purchasing Sarawak Land

Pemuda PBB Wilayah Tengah sokong penuh kenyataan Pandi

Kenyataan Akhbar Pemuda PBB Wilayah Tengah 23hb Mac 2013

(merujuk kepada Kenyataan Naib Ketua Pemuda PBB Sarawak Pandi Suhaili 21hb Mac 2013)

Hassan Tahir Hasbee

Barisan Pemuda Wilayah Tengah bersetuju dengan kecaman yang dibuat oleh Naib Pemuda PBB Saudara Pandi Suhaili ke atas Global Witness.

Bahkan kami berpendapat kecam tersebut amat bertepatan dengan pendirian kami yang selama ini enggan melihat mana-mana pihak cuba mengotorkan pandangan masyarakat terhadap Ketua Menteri Sarawak Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud dan kepimpinannya.

Global Witness, dan juga NGO-NGO Barat yang lain, hanya mempunyai satu tujuan sahaja - iaitu untuk menjatuhkan Pehin Sri bagi mencapai tujuan jahat mereka yang inginkan negeri Sarawak terjerumus dalam lembah kekacauan politik dan ekonomi.

Oleh itu, kami mengalu-alukan sebarang tindakan dikenakan keatas mana-mana pihak yang terbabit dalam usaha untuk memburuk-burukkan Pehin Sri agar semua pihak mengambil tindakan ini sebagai satu pengajaran kepada semua.

Covert video a blatant bid to smear Sarawak — PBB Youth vice chief

Posted on March 23, 2013, Saturday

KUCHING: A recent video accusing Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud of committing malpractice in managing the state’s land and forests is an obvious attempt to discredit the state in the eyes of the world, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) Youth vice chief Pandi Suhaili.

He said the non-governmental organisation (NGO) producing the video had a malicious intention to hurl slander towards Sarawak, its leaders and its people.

“Even before this (video came out), there had been numerous attempts by some western NGOs to weaken our leaders and the economy of our state,” he said.

He recalled some years back when a Europe-based NGO had claimed to become the champions of the Penan community in Sarawak but their actual intention was eventually to disrupt the timber industry, which was one of Sarawak’s major economic activities.

“In the end, it was the Sarawak government, which never claimed to be the champion, who took up realistic measures to help the Penans by coming up with facilities to raise their (the Penans) socio-economic standards,” he said.

Pendedahan video usaha cemar Sarawak - Naib Ketua Pemuda PBB

Utusan Malaysia

KUCHING 23 Mac (12:36am) - Video terbaharu menuduh Ketua Menteri Sarawak, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud melakukan penyelewengan menguruskan tanah dan hutan negeri adalah cubaan jelas untuk mencemarkan Sarawak di mata dunia, kata Naib Ketua Pemuda Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB), Pandi Suhaili.

Beliau berkata, sebuah pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang menghasilkan video itu berniat jahat untuk memfitnah Sarawak, pemimpin dan rakyatnya.

"Malah sebelum ini (sebelum video didedahkan), terdapat pelbagai cubaan oleh beberapa NGO barat untuk melemahkan pemimpin kami dan ekonomi negeri," katanya kepada Bernama.

Katanya, seperti yang berlaku beberapa tahun lepas sebuah NGO berpangkalan di Eropah mendakwa mewakili masyarakat Penan di Sarawak tetapi niat sebenar mereka adalah untuk mengganggu industri pembalakan, yang merupakan aktiviti ekonomi utama Sarawak.

"Akhirnya, kerajaan Sarawak yang tidak pernah mendakwa menjadi juara, yang mengambil langkah realistik untuk membantu kaum Penan dengan menyediakan kemudahan bagi meningkatkan taraf sosioekonomi mereka," katanya.

Singapore dismisses claims by Global Witness

The Malay Mail

March 22, 2013

THE Singapore government refuted claims made by several individuals in an explosive video revealing alleged shady lands deals with transactions made in the Republic.

The Singapore Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore had, in a joint statement to The Malay Mail today, dismissed the allegations brought forward by Kuching-based lawyer Alvin Chong and sisters Norlia and Fatimah Abdul Rahman who are cousins to Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in an undercover operation by UK-based Global Witness.

"We refer to your query on a recent video published by the NGO Global Witness which featured a lawyer in a Malaysian state claiming that Singapore facilitates tax evasion in Malaysia by withholding information requested by the Malaysian government. The allegation is simply false.”

“Contrary to what was claimed in the video, Singapore has to date provided fully the information requested by Malaysia for tax purposes. The two countries have had a good working relationship on tax matters, and continue to build on this relationship to strengthen cooperation.”

The statement further added that Singapore has designated a wide range of crimes as predicate offences to money laundering including corruption, bribery and fraud in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.